Psycho
by writer writing
Summary: Lois goes undercover as a patient to do an exposé on Belle Reve.
1. Chapter 1

"Hey, Clark," Chloe said, while she continued to stare at her computer screen and type furiously.

Clark pulled up a chair next to her desk to wait. "I assume this means you're not ready for lunch?"

"Nope. I'm on a deadline."

"Is Lois coming too?"

"I haven't asked her you but probably not. She usually eats while she works. She's in the editor's office right now. She's been there a lot lately come to think of it."

Clark's face flushed angrily. "I thought Grant left."

"He did," Chloe said with a smile. "This is another editor."

Clark had been so into dealing with Kara and Lana, he had neglected Lois, and Lois had gotten involved with a dangerous man without his knowledge. Grant was gone now, but Clark didn't intend to ever let it happen again. "Is it a man?"

"Yes, but before you freak out, he's old enough to be her father. Actually, you probably remember him. It's Perry White."

"Perry White's the editor?"

"Yep. I'm not his biggest fan. I mean I respect him and he's much better than Grant was, but our personalities don't mesh well. He's too gruff for my taste. Lois likes him though. She says his bark is worse than his bite and that he's really a teddy bear underneath. You can tell he likes her and she likes him in a father and daughter way I mean. I think Perry sees a younger version of himself in her, so he's taken her under his wing. I have a feeling she's the reason we both got moved upstairs. Rumor around the office is that he wanted to move her up here, and she wouldn't do it unless he moved me up too."

"That's Lois for you," Clark said. "She's as loyal as they come."

"Yeah, it's not that I don't appreciate it, but I would have liked to move up on my own accord. Anyway, I'm not worried about the personality clash. The editors come and go. I've been through 3 in the short amount of time I've been here."

"I don't know. I have a feeling Perry will stick around for awhile."

"Are you trying to cheer me up because if you are-"

There was suddenly yelling coming from the editor's office.

"That sounds like Lois," Clark said. "I thought you said they got along."

"They do. Perry yells but then Perry is always loud. I've never heard Lois yell at him before, argue but not yell."

They heard her screaming again.

Chloe stopped typing. "Gosh, that sounds serious. She's really angry. If she doesn't stop, she's going to get herself fired."

There was a crash. By now, everyone in the office was looking toward the editor's office.

"I better go see what's the matter with her," Clark said, standing up, but before he could start heading there, the door flung open and Lois came tearing out.

"I hate you! I hate this place and everybody in it!" Lois screamed hysterically. Tears were rolling down her face, making it especially scary. Lois never cried in front of anybody if she could help it. She went to the nearest desk and the woman at it quickly got out of the way. Lois wiped everything off of it with a violent sweep. The picture frames that were on it and a glass figurine shattered with the impact.

"Lois," Perry said, trying to speak calmingly. "It's all going to be okay. You just need to relax."

"Relax? Relax? This job is too hard! I put my life on the line and spend hours writing a story up just to have you reject it! And for what? The money hardly covers my electric bill! I hate this stupid place! I want to scream! I want to hurt somebody!"

2 security guards got off the elevator and quickly apprehended her each taking an arm.

She jumped and kicked, trying to break away. "Leave me alone! I haven't done anything!"

"Lois, I think you may be experiencing a burnout," Perry said.

"No! I'm not! I'm not!"

Clark came up to them, "I don't know if you remember me, sir, but I'm Clark Kent. Lois is a friend of mine. Let me take her home. I promise she'll be fine."

"I remember you. She won't be fine. Look at her. She's still shaking and crying. Son, she needs professional help. I'm thinking she might have to go to Belle Reve."

"No," Clark said, shaking his head vehemently. "That place has a reputation, and she doesn't need it."

"Let's let a psychologist decide what's best for her," Perry said.

"Quit talking about me like I'm not here!" Lois screamed. "I'm not a child!"

"We'll take her away," one of the security guards said.

"No! No!" Lois cried over and over again as they led her out.

Clark looked back at Chloe and saw she was looking pale and shaken up. An unnatural quiet had settled now that Lois was gone.

"Lois Lane is a psychopath," one of the men in there said, breaking the silence and causing his word to echo forebodingly.


	2. Chapter 2

Perry was back in his office and somebody knocked on his door. "Come in."

It was Chloe.

"Miss Sullivan, how can I help you?"

She glared at him. "You can help by not pressing charges against my cousin."

"She needs help. Can't you see that?"

"My cousin is not crazy!"

"Keep your voice down, please. If they give her a clean bill of mental health, fine. If they don't, she may have to get psychiatric help, but I have a feeling she'll be better before you know it. Now if you don't mind, I have a lot of work to do."

Chloe stepped closer. "This is my cousin's life we're talking about. So what if she raised her voice and cried? Is that a crime?"

"It's a nervous breakdown. You also conveniently forget that the she broke things and threatened to hurt somebody."

"You said something to her, didn't you?"

"I beg your pardon?" Perry asked with a puzzled expression.

"You've been spending a lot of time with her, more than with the other employees. What made her suddenly snap like that? Did you sexually harass her, Mr. White?"

"You are completely out of line, young lady. I merely rejected her story. I've been spending a lot of time with her because I believed she had great potential."

"Drop the charges, Mr. White!"

"It's out of my hands now."

"Then I quit!"

"Perhaps that's for the best right now," he told her.

Chloe slammed the door and gave a cry of disgust.

Clark was waiting on the other side. "How did it go?"

"Not good. The man is a pigheaded jerk, so I quit!"

The newsroom fell quiet. The memory of the last screaming woman was still fresh on everyone's minds.

"Calm down, Chloe," Clark said softly.

"Yeah, I'd better not scream around here. They'll ship you off to Belle Reve!"

She gathered up as much of her stuff as she could carry in her arms and headed for the elevator, dropping things as she went, but she didn't bother to stop and pick them up. Clark watched her sympathetically. She was really worried about Lois. He wasn't going to let Lois get taken to Belle Reve though, no matter what he had to do.

"I say good riddance," declared the same man who had called Lois a psychopath, once Chloe had left. "Craziness must run in their family."

sss

Lois was sitting in a psychiatrist's office at the Smallville hospital with her arms folded. The dark blue carpet and beige walls were supposed to have a soothing effect but she was glowering and not making eye contact with the male psychiatrist. She had her legs drawn up and she was sitting in the far corner of the brown couch.

"I just want to ask you some questions about what happened at work. It can only help your situation to talk about it."

Lois didn't answer or look. Her eyes stayed focused on the corner of the room where a bookcase and a potted plant met. Her eyes had never once wavered from that spot during the entire time she'd been there.

"Miss Lane, I only want to help you." He waited for her response and then sighed and adjusted his thick glasses. He wrote something down on his notepad. "We've been here 30 minutes and you haven't spoken once or made any sign that you hear anything I'm saying to you. I'm afraid I'm going to have to recommend some intense therapy. You became very emotional I hear and made threats."

"It doesn't matter," Lois said darkly, still not moving her eyes.

"So you can talk."

"If you lock me up, it won't matter. I'll still have my revenge on the editor."

"And just how do you plan on doing that, Miss Lane?"

"You'll see. Never underestimate my ability to do something, when I don't seem to be doing anything."

"Were you here during the Smallville meteor shower?"

"The second one? Yes."

"I have no choice but to send you to Belle Reve."

He went over behind his desk and pushed a button. He stared at her frightfully. 2 men in white came in and got her and locked her up in the back of one of Belle Reve's transportation vehicles. Once the door was shut, she smiled like a kid who'd gotten exactly what she wanted for Christmas. "I'm in," she whispered triumphantly.


	3. Chapter 3

Lois was taken to a private room after she had been forced to change into patient's garb. They locked her up and left her alone. She sighed. The room was very small. There wasn't enough room to pace. The bed had a very thin mattress and rested on an old, iron frame. She bounced up and down a little. The bed was hard and uncomfortable. She looked around the room. The only other objects were a small table and a picture of flowers that hung on the wall.

"The room alone is enough to make you go crazy," Lois muttered.

Maybe the rooms improved, depending on how long you'd been here and what kind of mental illness you had. She lay down on the bed and thought about her article and what she could do to uncover the dirt on Belle Reve. She didn't think they mistreated their regular patients, at least not on a grand scale. The problem was with meteor freaks. They weren't here to get better, only to keep them a prisoner and a secret from the rest of the world. The big thing was that they ended up disappearing from the mental institution, and she had no doubt that they went to Lex Luthor, who experimented on them with a perverse pleasure. If she were able to expose this practice, she'd not only make Belle Reve a better place for meteor freaks, but she'd bring Lex Luthor down.

She sighed again. The least they could do was put in a TV. She would have thought that they would want to keep their minds occupied if they believed a person had powers. At last, she heard the sound of the door opening and a middle-aged nurse came into the room.

"Hello, my dear. Welcome to Belle Reve."

The nurse pulled out a needle and a syringe. Lois jumped off the bed, but there was nowhere to run in the tiny room. Lois put up her hands defensively and got ready to kick it out of the nurse's hand. She couldn't do her job if they kept her sedated.

"Wayne, I'm going to need some help in here!"

A burly orderly came into the room. Lois kicked him hard in the chest, but it didn't even phase him. He had her pinned up against the wall before she knew what was happening, and the nurse quickly injected the medication into her despite her attempts to struggle. She felt herself starting to relax and her mind starting to cloud.

sss

"I need to see, Lois Lane," Clark said politely but urgently to the young lady at the desk.

"Lane, Lane," she said to herself as she scanned down a list. "I'm sorry, sir. Miss Lane isn't allowed to have visitors."

"Please, I'm her best friend. She'll be happy to see me, and she shouldn't even be here. It's all been a big mistake."

"I don't make the rules."

"Miss Shirley," he said, looking at her nametag. "Please, I have to see her. It's really important."

He didn't expect to get anywhere. He was just stalling for time. He was already x-raying around Belle Reve, searching for Lois, so he could super speed to her, but the receptionist said, "Well, there is a loophole actually."

"Loophole? What is it?"

"They're always open to volunteers. We can never keep enough staff."

"I'll do that," he said. It was much better than risking the cameras picking him up or having to rip off doors. "How can I be sure I'll be assigned to Lois' ward though?"

"I handle volunteers. I just need you to fill this out," she said, handing him a piece of paper.

"Thank you. I really appreciate this."

She handed him a green shirt with Belle Reve volunteer written on it. "Her room's on the third floor all the way to the right. You'll really have to work. If they get suspicious, I might get fired."

"Don't worry. I won't blow the cover."

He had already finished filling out the form at a quicker speed than he should have. He took off his jacket and threw the t-shirt over his other one. He hurriedly dashed for the elevator before she could change her mind.

"I'm coming, Lois," he said.


	4. Chapter 4

As Clark was checking the rooms for Lois, he ran into one of the nurses.

"Oh, good," she said, "a volunteer. We're okay out here for now. The best thing you can do is keep the patients entertained in the common room. It's social hour."

"Yes, ma'am."

"You look new."

"I am."

"There are magazines and books. You're welcome to read to them and for the higher functioning patients there are board games. We believe that it's important that they get social interaction but stay cautious. This ward is for those that have been affected by the meteors. If you're from Smallville, I'm sure you're familiar with it."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Well, what are you waiting for?" she asked.

Clark hurried toward the common room and hoped he didn't run into anyone that he had helped put in here. He scanned the room while trying to keep his face hidden. He found Lois in the corner by herself, and he rushed over there. He put her hand in his. "Lois, are you okay?" She looked like she was a million miles away, and she didn't answer him. "What's the matter?" he asked in an alarmed tone.

Her normally intelligent hazel eyes that were always alert, taking in the information and details around her, looked out of focus, but he thought he'd seen a spark of recognition for a moment. It worried him because crazy or not, Lois was the type that had to stay active and talk, even if it was a matter of life and death, and sometimes it was. If she did go off the deep end, it would lean more toward incoherent babble than unresponsive silence, at least in his opinion.

"Lois, can you hear me? I know you're not crazy, and I'm going to get you out of here." She managed to squeeze his hand tightly almost as if she were protesting. He had a feeling that somehow he didn't have the entire story.

A realization suddenly came to him. "You've been sedated, and I'm sure if you weren't heavily medicated, you'd have a sarcastic comeback for me on my skills of observation."

He did something very brave and hoped that she wouldn't have any memory of it. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. He didn't know what he'd do if he ever lost her either in the mortal sense or just lost her period. He needed her in his life. He kept her hand in his and gazed at her intensely, watching for a sign that the sedation was wearing off and thinking of a way to get her out of here without causing trouble. He thought about the legal and illegal options, but he wanted her input before he did anything drastic. If he did it legally, it could take longer and he didn't want to leave her around meteor freaks or leave her in a vulnerable state. If he took her out illegally, they'd both have to go into hiding, probably together, and he wasn't sure Lois was going to be okay with that. He was still holding her hand when the same nurse from earlier came and saw what he was doing. He let go of her hand.

"Sir, I didn't mean to keep them that entertained. You shouldn't stay near this one. We don't know what her power is yet, but she's dangerous."

"Dangerous? Power?"

"Yes, I recommend that you find someone else to keep company."

He wondered how in the world they'd gotten the idea that Lois had a power. He'd know if someone close to him was a meteor freak. "It's okay, ma'am. I'll take the risk. She looks friendly to me."

"That's because she's been sedated. Once it starts to wear off-"

"Really, it's okay." He picked up a National Geographic. "I'm going to read this to her."

She looked at him suspiciously. He was a young man who wanted to spend time with a young woman, and he'd been caught holding her hand. "Fine, but I'm keeping my eye on you."

She walked away, but true to her words, he could feel her eyes on him, so he started to read a National Geographic article to Lois. "A fearsome fossil claw discovered in Germany belonged to the biggest bug ever known, scientists announced Tuesday." He looked up, but the nurse hadn't stopped watching and she didn't look like she was going to stop anytime soon. "The size of a large crocodile, the 390-million-year-old sea scorpion was the top predator of its day, slicing up fish and cannibalizing its own kind in coastal swamp waters, fossil experts say. Jaekelopterus rhenaniae measured some 8.2 feet (2.5 meters) long, scientists estimate, based on the length of its 18-inch (46-centimeter), spiked claw." Clark yawned, He wished he's had the time to pick out a more interesting article, but he might as well keep reading it now. He noticed that Lois seemed to be growing more and more irritated with each boring paragraph he read. Pretty soon there was a clearly identifiable expression of irritation on her face, and he could hear her heartbeat starting to speed up, but he kept reading until he got to the end. "The largest arthropods living today include lobsters and spider crabs, both of which would have been bite-size snacks to J. rhenaniae. That's the end of it. At least you can say it was educational. Here's another article called Whale Lost in Amazon Found Dead."

That's when he heard her slur out quietly, "Read another one, and I'll kill you, Smallville."

He was glad to hear her talking again, but it didn't take a psychiatrist to recognize that she was serious in her threat. He gulped. Maybe Lois was crazy after all.


	5. Chapter 5

"I mean it, Clark. Put down that National Geographic."

"I won't read it anymore, but I have to hold onto it or the nurse will get suspicious."

"Yeah, the old bag's the one who injected me with the sedative. I don't know how I came out of it so fast."

"I do," he said, indicating the magazine. "It's a handy piece of information to know if you ever need to be pulled out of a coma."

"What are you doing here anyway?"

"What do you mean what am I doing here? I'm here to rescue you."

"Well, I don't need rescuing."

"I beg to differ. You're locked up, and they're keeping you sedated, Lois. Now I was thinking—"

"You can't break me out. I had a mental breakdown. You saw it. You were there."

"That still doesn't make you crazy," he said and then his eyes widened. "Wait a minute, you want them to think you're crazy, don't you? And you want them to think you're a meteor freak!"

"Would you keep your voice down before someone hears you? Yes, I do as a matter of fact. I'm working on a story here and I don't need you getting underfoot, so go away please."

"I just got here. I have to work at least an hour or they'll get suspicious."

"Then do what the good nurse says and find someone else to entertain. Besides, how do you know I don't have a power? You better go for your own safety."

"I know because you would have used it on me by now," he said with a grin.

"You're darn right I would have. Now go bother another patient."

"I don't see how you fooled a professional. I don't think it's even possible for you to go crazy. All a person has to do to tell is look into your eyes to see you're perfectly sane."

Lois looked at him incredulously. His tone had betrayed a certain adoration and an uncomfortable silence settled. She finally said to break the tension. "The craziest people are always the best at hiding it. That's what makes them so dangerous. They've got crazy ideas, but a strong will and intellect to make it seem not so crazy."

Clark nodded thoughtfully. "I suppose that's true, but I still know you're not."

"You know I could go crazy if I wanted to."

He smiled and agreed with her, "If anyone could, you could. So just how are you planning on getting out of here? They generally don't take the word of mental patients."

"I thought of that. Perry is in on it. He's going to bail me out in a week."

"Perry is in on it?"

"That's what I said. You don't think I would have gone ballistic on my boss without his knowledge, do you? This story may not pan out and even if it does, he'd probably be too ticked to hire me back. He had to be in on it."

"So the story was your idea?"

"Yep," she said proudly.

"You should have let Chloe in on it. Did you know she quit her job for you?"

"She did?" Lois asked in a concerned tone, but then she brushed it away. "Perry will hire her back given the circumstances."

"And do you also know how worried I was about you? You could have let me in on it too."

"Sorry. It made it more realistic though. I figured the less people that knew the better. I certainly didn't expect you to pull a rescue mission."

"Did you think I was going to let you rot in here?"

"What if I had been demented?"

"I still would have gotten you out of here, and I'm sure Chloe would have too."

"You mean you two would have thrown your lives away to take care of a crazy person?"

"It's not throwing it away when you care about someone, and you know you would do the same for us."

"Well, for Chloe anyway," she teased. "As enlightening as this has been, would you please go away."

"I'm not leaving you alone. For one thing, you're surrounded by meteor freaks. Besides, you need me and you know it. How are you going to keep them from sedating you? You can't do an exposé if you spend all your time in la la land."

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fine, but you do know that you can't be with me every second. You are seriously limited as a volunteer."

"We'll see about that. Just what are you looking to—oh, no."

"What?"

"Chloe's here."

Lois looked around. "I don't see her."

"She's here. I can hear her. Will you be okay if I leave you alone for a few minutes?"

"Sure, I have awhile before they give me another dose. You've been blocking the nurse's view of me, so I haven't been doing it, but I can look zoned out. Do you mind if I ask what Chloe's doing?"

He stood up. "Going nuts and causing trouble. I'll be right back."


	6. Chapter 6

Chloe was at the same desk and talking to the same lady that Clark had been talking to earlier except that Chloe wasn't talking; she was yelling.

"You let my cousin out now!"

"Ma'am, if you don't calm down, we're going to call security."

"I don't care! I'll stage a protest, whatever I have to do. Lois Lane is not insane. In fact, that'll be our battle cry. Lois Lane is not insane! Lois Lane is not insane!"

Clark had to keep himself from smiling. Chloe was a tad comical when she got really fired up. The short, friendly blonde just didn't come off as very intimidating, of course, looks could be deceiving. The 'Lois Lane is not insane' slogan was clever but still humorous. He took Chloe and dragged her off to the side before they called security and so he could talk privately with her.

"Chloe, you need to calm down."

"Oh, good you're here. Clark, go get her. Jump out the window with her if you have to. I'll wait outside."

"She wants to be here," he whispered. "She's on a story."

"What?" Chloe said, taking a few moments to digest the information. "A story and she didn't tell me?"

"She didn't tell me either until just now that is. Anyway, it's going to be dangerous, so I'm going to stay and help her."

Chloe looked at his shirt, "I see that. I want to help too."

"I don't think they'll let you volunteer after the fit you threw. That lady you were yelling at is in charge of signing up volunteers. Lois is in the meteor freak ward."

"Then I'm going undercover with you guys as another patient."

"Just because you were trying to free your cousin doesn't qualify you to be a patient here, and it's definitely not going to get you in the meteor freak ward."

"How did Lois get qualified?"

"Who knows, but not through legitimate means obviously."

"I will become a patient if I have to."

"What are you going to do when they ask you to prove you have a power?"

"Prove it," she said straightforwardly and honestly.

Clark didn't know where the fear in him came from. He knew that Chloe had to be bluffing, but he grabbed her anyway. "You win. I'll sneak you in."

"How?"

He looked around. The kitchen was on the first floor. Some other volunteers were starting to take the dinner carts to the other floors. "I know this is an old trick. They've done it on tons of movies and TV shows, but it always seems to work."

"I'm one step ahead of you."

Chloe took a seat in one of the chairs and used a magazine to help hide her face, but the receptionist had stopped paying attention. Clark went to get the dinner cart. Luckily, no one had gotten the one for the meteor freak ward yet. He paused in front of Chloe's chair, and she got down on the floor and lifted the tablecloth to crawl in. They made it with no problems. Clark took it toward the common room and saw that Lois wasn't in there anymore. He started to panic. He should have stayed tuned into her while he was downstairs.

"What's going on?" Chloe asked.

"Nothing. I'm sure everything's fine," he said, trying to make it sound like he believed it. "Now please be quiet before someone wonders why a dinner cart is talking to me and why I'm answering it."

"I don't know that people will think it's all that strange, Clark, given that we're in a mental hospital."

"Chloe!" he whispered.

"I'm shutting up."

The nurse spotted him and made her way over. "So that's where you went, to get the dinner cart. I don't who told you to."

"I'm an overzealous volunteer. I go above and beyond the call of duty."

"So I see. Don't do it again. Do what you're told when you're told. That's important around here. As you may have noticed, I put your favorite patient back in her room. Now I'll take this cart and you can go entertain someone else."

"Um," he said, fighting to keep his eyes from going down to where Chloe was. "I was thinking, I mean if it's okay with you, that I could give the patients their dinner."

"Well," she said. "That does free me up for other things. Why not?"

"They are all capable of feeding themselves, aren't they?"

"Most are. Of course, you have the usual allergies even among their kind—"

An angry sounding humph came from underneath the cart. Clark covered by clearing his throat. "You were saying?"

"I was saying that there are instructions on each patient's meal, and they must go to the right room number. Leave it on their tables, and they'll have someone come feed them later if they need it. If no one's in the room, don't put it in there. Bring the cart back here, and I'll give out the rest in here. You'll need the key."

"Yes, ma'am," and Clark took the key from her and hurried off.

He easily found Lois' room. He looked around to make sure no one was watching and then unlocked the door. "Hurry up," he said to Chloe.

They rushed in and shut the door. He scanned around the room. There were only cameras in the hallways, so they were safe.

"Chloe, Clark, what are you doing in here?" Lois asked, surprised. "You're going to get caught."

"We know what we're doing," Clark said.

"You could have told somebody," Chloe said, going over and hugging her.

Lois hugged her back, "I'm sorry. I don't always think about how what I do affects the people I care about. What are you doing though? I thought you don't like mental hospitals."

"I didn't. I don't. This ward anyway. I'm not going to abandon you though."

"Guys, I really don't need your help. This is my story. I'll handle it."

"We won't share your byline, I promise," Chloe laughed.

"It's the principle of the thing, but if you two are so darn determined to help, I suppose there's nothing I can do to stop you. After all, you guys could rat me out. Listen, Chloe, about your job, Perry will—"

"I know," she said, dismissing the subject quickly. "It's really a good idea. So much good could come from this story. I don't know why I didn't think if it, seeing that Nellie Bly is my hero. She feigned insanity to expose a mental institution too, but you knew that, didn't you?"

"Yeah, that's what gave me the idea, but I doubt she had to deal with meteor freaks."

"So let's brainstorm," Chloe said. "What's the plan?"

"I don't know," Lois answered. "I never really got past getting into Belle Reve. I just planned to go with the flow and see what happens and what comes to light."

"I don't know how much you can expose," Clark said. "People aren't inclined to believe that meteor freaks exist outside of Smallville. You'd have to have some real evidence just to report about that."

"Meteor freaks—" Lois started to say.

"Would you two stop saying meteor freaks?" Chloe cried in annoyance and exasperation.

"Sorry, Cuz, but up until recently you used it yourself. You're the one that introduced the term to me."

"I know. Listen, I'm assuming part of this is to prove Lex is behind 33.1, right?"

"Yes, it's not absolutely necessary to the piece, but it would be nice."

"Lex is never going to do anything with you because he knows you don't have a meteor power and even if he does fall for it, you'll be in a sticky situation. You need a person with a real meteor power."

"Like who?" Lois said, folding her arms. "They're all cracked in the head. Who can possibly help us?"

"Me," Chloe replied.


	7. Chapter 7

"You?" echoed Clark and Lois.

Chloe gave a heavy sigh and looked a little embarrassed, "I want you guys to know that I trust you two more than anyone else in the world and trust is not the reason I didn't tell you. Of course, I'm only telling you now because the situation calls for it and a bigger issue is at hand. I have a meteor power. I got it along with my mother I suppose. It's just been latent. I didn't tell you because after all the years I spent chasing down meteor freaks and thinking they were all weird and nuts, I didn't want to be included in that category. I guess I'm a hypocrite. I just wanted to be and still want to be normal."

Clark was speechless.

"What kind of power?" Lois asked with wide eyes.

"My tears heal people. I take on their wounds for a little while. When you were stabbed, you died and I took that on. That's when I first found out about it."

"Wow, that's so…" Lois paused for the right word and Chloe got nervous until Lois finished with, "cool!"

"Cool?" Chloe asked, not sure she'd heard right.

"Yeah, cool. It's like the legend of the phoenix. If you went to Ancient Egypt, they'd worship you with your healing tears and rising from the ashes, so to speak."

"You don't think differently of me?"

"Well, different, yeah, but in a good way. You're still my little cousin and now you happen to have a gift, a special power. I wish I had one."

Chloe smiled. She should have told Lois months ago. It would have been nice to have someone to share the burden with, someone who always made things seem simple and fun. Her smile disappeared when she looked at Clark. He still hadn't said anything yet.

Clark, realizing he was worrying her, spoke quickly, "I don't think any less of you either. I'm the last person to judge about that kind of thing. It's like Lois said, it's a gift and I know you'll be able to handle it. You won't end up crazy like some of the others. Don't forget there are other people that have been affected by the meteors and stayed perfectly sane and even use it to help people. I just wish you'd told me sooner. I confide everything to you; I thought you knew you could do the same with me."

"I know and I'm really sorry, guys. I can't tell you how good it feels not to have to hide it from you two anymore."

They both got up and hugged her simultaneously.

Once they pulled out of the group hug, Clark eyed Lois and Chloe knew what he was thinking. "You might as well tell her, Clark. Make it a confession day."

Lois looked at Clark, "Go ahead and spill it, Smallville. Don't tell me you have a meteor power too?"

"Not exactly, just powers," he answered.

"Care to elaborate?" she asked with raised eyebrows.

"I'm an alien from another planet. I came to earth in the 1989 meteor shower. I have strength, super speed, almost complete invulnerability except to magic and meteor rocks, heat vision, x-ray vision, super hearing, and super breath."

"Whoa, I think that beats yours, Chloe." Lois said in disbelief. "Is he kidding?"

"No, he's not. I've seen the proof."

She looked back at Clark. "I feel honored that you're trusting me with this. This is big, but I hope you know that you've just opened up a whole new way for me to tease you."

He smiled. "I figured that."

"Well," Lois said. "I feel kind of left out now. I don't have any big secret to confess. I'm just too honest and normal for my own good."

Chloe and Clark laughed. Lois was making light of this whole thing and didn't seem the least bit mad that they'd kept important information about themselves from her. Clark figured it might have been the remnants of the drug in her system and was sure that some anger and lecturing on why-they-should-trust-the-people-they-care-about, particularly her, was going to come later.

"Hold on a second and I bet I can think of something," Lois said. "I've got it! Here's something I've never told another living soul."

Clark and Chloe leaned forward in anticipation.

"When I was 6, I ate all the cookies in the cookie jar and blamed it on Lucy, and here's the worst part, it was before supper."

Chloe shook her head. "If you really want to tell us a secret, you can tell us about your feelings. There's something you keep under lock and key."

"Let's quit goofing around," Lois said, changing the subject. "We have work to do. The meteor fre—I mean people in this ward are depending on it. So what exactly do you plan on doing, Chloe? You can't be thinking of becoming a patient. Your meteor power is real. What if they want to keep you after this is over?"

"That's a chance I'll have to take. I'm going to prove that I have the ability, and I know I will be Lex's next candidate. It always intrigues him more when he knows the person with powers. I think he'd suspect a trick from you without the proper proof."

"But how exactly are you going to prove it?" Lois asked. "Are you going to ask for a dead person and an onion? Besides, how is it a dangerous power that requires hospitalization? You can't hurt somebody with it unless they want to stay dead."

"It's not just for dead people, it can heal any kind of wound, and they won't care whether the power can hurt someone or not. People are of the mindset that all meteor people are dangerous. It's the same old story. Human beings can't seem to handle people being different than they are. I actually want you to help me with the demonstration, Lois. You have a paper cut."

"I do?" She found the paper cut on her left pointer finger. "I guess I do."

"And I can cry on command. Lucy taught me how when we were kids."

"That's something I could never learn," Lois said and then she laughed. "You're going to heal my paper cut?"

"Yes. I'm going to take on the wound," Chloe said with a dramatic gesture.

"What a sacrifice," Lois said with a smile.

"Wait," Clark said, "I don't like this. There has to be a better way."

"What are you so worried about?" Lois asked him. "With your powers, you can keep an eye on her. You're the ultimate superhero, you're…Superman."

"Be that as it may, I'm not infallible," Clark replied.

"Do you think you're going to stop her?" Lois responded.

He looked at Chloe's determined face. "At least be careful."

"I will. We just have to prove that Lex takes them. I don't plan to actually let him experiment on me. Come on, Lois. Let's go make a trip to the desk. I believe Clark has some dinners to deliver."

"Dinner?" Lois asked wistfully, placing a hand over her growling stomach.

"Come on," Chloe said. "Worry about your stomach later."

"That's easy for you to say. I never had lunch."

"Neither did I, thanks to you, and there's plenty of time to eat later."

"Slave driver," she joked. She looked back at Clark and warned, "You better leave me a dinner."

He smiled. "I will."

The two cousins went off to reveal Chloe's meteor power and Clark sighed. He had a feeling things were going to get dangerous fast. For one thing, he had to figure out how to deliver the dinners without any of his old nemeses seeing him.


	8. Chapter 8

Lois still played the part of being zoned out. She didn't want to risk getting sedated again. Chloe pushed her toward the nurse's station. The young nurse at the desk was gluing on fake nails. She looked like she had just gotten out of nursing school and how she'd gotten out was anybody's guess. She must have been smarter than she looked. Her platinum blonde hair was clearly dyed because of her darker eyebrows and it was pulled up in a curly, messy bun but the bun was obviously styled. She was wearing way too much makeup. Her bright red lipstick clashed with her nurse's uniform. "Can I help you?" she asked in an ultra-high voice. "I don't remember you coming in."

"I want to admit myself to the meteor ward," Chloe said.

The nurse stared at her blankly, her heavily massacred eyelashes only closing over her light blue eyes a couple of times for what seemed like a long while. At last, she said, "That's never happened in this ward before. At least, not since I've been here. Um, what power do you have?"

"The power to heal with my tears," Chloe answered and held out Lois' finger so the nurse could see it and she held out her own finger. "See this paper cut and see my finger? There's nothing on mine."

"Yes," the blonde nurse replied.

"Watch," Chloe began to tear up and brushed off a tear with her finger and put the meteor-infected saltwater onto Lois' finger. There was a slight glow and Lois' paper cut was gone and onto Chloe's finger. "See?"

"That's amazing," said the astonished and frightened nurse.

Chloe could tell Lois was having a hard time not saying anything after witnessing Chloe's power in action, but she managed to only let it show by her wide eyes.

"It'll disappear from my finger in a little bit. So do you see why I want to be admitted?"

The blonde nurse leapt into action. She pushed a button that alerted the other staff and when a couple of orderlies and another nurse came, she pointed to Chloe and said, "It's another meteor freak! I saw her use her power and the other one is a patient that is supposed to be in her room."

Chloe was taken off to be admitted, and Lois was taken away as well.

sss

It had grown dark outside and Lois was laying in her bed. There didn't appear to be anyone else in the room, but she said, "You should have gone home by now."

A voice that was slightly muffled from being under the bed said, "They already think I left hours ago, and no one's going to check under here. You didn't think I was going to leave you and Chloe by yourselves, did you?"

"What if I tell someone I want them to check under the bed for monsters?"

"You wouldn't."

"Why aren't you in Chloe's room? She's the one who needs the help."

"Because you're getting ready to get another injection. I already prevented Chloe's. I'm going in there after I'm done with you. You know you impress me, Lois. I didn't think you could keep you mouth shut long enough to fake sedation."

"I can do anything for a story. So you never did tell me how you got those dinners delivered without anyone seeing you."

"Super speed. It also kept the nurse from getting suspicious about what had taken so long."

"Of course, super speed. That's going to take some getting used to. So you can see and hear Chloe from in here?"

"If I want to."

"Do it. I want to make sure she's still okay."

"She is. I have my hearing tuned into her room."

"That's so handy and with your x-ray vision you can—" Lois left her sentence uncompleted.

Clark knew what had just entered her mind. "Yes, I can see through clothing, and no, I don't use it."

"Not even on Lana?"

"Not even on Lana."

"You know if anyone deserves to have those kinds of powers, it's you. You're the only one I can think of who would never abuse them."

"Thank you, Lois." he said hesitantly. He was unsure of compliments from her. They were usually setups to mock him. When a silence fell and he realized it was a genuine compliment, he felt the need to give her one too. "You're the only one I can think of who has taken finding out I'm an alien and have powers like it happens everyday. It's nice."

"I don't know about the alien thing, but the powers do kind of happen everyday around here," she laughed and then she got more serious. "It brings this story closer to home now, doesn't it? I always thought of them as the meteor freaks, a whole separate group of people and now I find out my cousin's one of them. It makes this exposé all the more important."

"It's not the first time I've been close to a person with meteor powers. I've known there are people that turn out alright with them, but it's…it's Chloe. I just wish this would all stop. It's not right for people to have deal with this. I feel so responsible for it. If I had never come to Earth, I wouldn't have brought the meteor rocks with me, and everyone would be normal."

"And a lot of people would have died. You save lives."

"Yeah, but it's usually the rocks that cause it in the first place."

"How can you blame yourself for the existence of the rocks? You didn't blow up your home world. You want to know something? If you tell anyone this, I'll deny it, but I wouldn't be the person I am now without you."

"You're not such a bad influence yourself."

The door opened interrupting their heart to heart moment. It was a different nurse than earlier, since it was a new shift. She didn't have an orderly. They still expected her to be somewhat sedated. As she went to put the needle in, Clark used his heat vision to bend it, keeping it from going in and he evaporated the liquid contents. The nurse didn't notice and left, thinking she'd done her job.

Clark came out from under the bed. "As soon as the coast is clear, I'm going to Chloe's room."

"Go right ahead and when you come back, see if you can't sneak me in a pocket TV."

"I might sneak you in a book, but a TV is out of the ques—oh no!"

Before Lois could ask him what was the matter, he had super sped out of the room.

She didn't like the sound of the 'oh no' and hoped nothing had happened to Chloe.


	9. Chapter 9

Clark hadn't heard Chloe scream. He'd heard a thump, as someone who had entered the room through the window knocked her out. He had to remember to restrain himself from rushing in there and beating the person up for hurting Chloe. That had to come later.

Right now he had to follow them and stay out of sight to find out where Chloe was being taken. He'd gotten so wrapped up in talking to Lois, as he often did; he'd almost missed it and stopped listening. He'd tuned back in just in time.

He x-rayed the room. A man was climbing out the window with her. Clark hoped no one out in the hall noticed him, as he wasn't supposed to be here. He'd panicked for a second and had come out without thinking. He had to find a window near by.

However before he could find one, he was face-to-face with the last Belle Reve meteor freak he needed to see, Eric Summers. Eric had given him trouble, not once but twice. Correction, about to be 3 as he grabbed him with a meteor rock in his hand and a jolt of electricity from a stun gun in the other. He leeched Clark's powers for the 3rd time.

"See, if you can stop me this time," he said as he sped out of the hospital, leaving a powerless Clark behind.

He had to wonder how he'd gotten the kryptonite and stun gun when he was a mental patient, but the fact that he was in here right now was proof that security was not as tight as it could or should be. A patient had been kidnapped and another patient had escaped with stolen powers and the staff of Belle Reve was nowhere around. They were none the wiser or at least pretending that was the case.

It couldn't have happened at a worse time. He needed to follow and see where Chloe was taken to, and he had no way of doing it. If she were able to somehow communicate, she most likely wouldn't know where she was at. Eric was probably halfway to China by now, maybe closer. His mind was swirling with fear and confusion. He went back into Lois' room.

"Well?" Lois asked. "Is something wrong? I thought you were supposed to follow her."

"I was, but there's sort of a problem."

"Sort of a problem?" Lois had gotten off the bed and was looking angry. "Go after her if they've taken her. Put those powers to good use!" She punctuated her exclamation point with a hit in the arm.

"Ow," he cried genuinely, rubbing his now sore arm. He wondered if Lois had always hit him this hard or just since she found out about his powers.

Her anger changed to concern. "You're not faking, are you?"

"No, I'm not. I lost all my powers."

"What do you mean you lost them? How can you suddenly lose them?"

"It's complicated, but a meteor freak took them, and it's going to be impossible to catch him."

"Meteor freak explains it all, doesn't it? I still wouldn't think your powers were transferable if it's based on your biology and not some kind of magic waiting to be taken. Wait a minute, Lana had your super powers when she pushed me through the glass at the Daily Planet, didn't she?

"Yes, but I still had my powers that time."

Lois looked confused and mad, "So then Lana wasn't under some weird influence?"

"She had my powers."

"Exactly and they don't make you crazy, do they?"

"But not everyone can handle it. I'm used to being different. You know what they say, absolute power corrupts absolutely."

"Thank you for that overused cliché, but I still say Lana's really evil or at least schizophrenic."

"Don't you think—"

"What the heck are we doing? Chloe is out there somewhere and needs our help!"

"You're right. I usually go to Chloe when things like this happen and she—Kara! My cousin is from Krypton too. She has powers. Why didn't I think of it sooner?"

"Don't just stand there. Go call her!"

sss

Chloe woke up slowly and didn't know what was going on for a second. One minute, she'd been in her room and the next only God knew where and Lex, of course. She reminded herself that Clark had to be around somewhere. He had told her he would be, and she felt more confident. There was nothing to worry about.

Lex Luthor walked into the dark, little room she was in. "The girl with the golden tears," he remarked.

"Excuse me?" Chloe said.

"Do you know how much those tears of yours are worth? Normally, I'd experiment on you, but you can make me wealthier than I already am, so I have a different plan for you."

Chloe was frustrated. This thing was fast becoming pointless. She'd been hoping to be taken with the other meteor freaks. That was the point of Lois' exposé, but this could very well end up bringing Lex Luthor down too.

"You know I'm reminded of a fairy tale, Rumpelstiltskin. It seems the king locked her up as well and wanted her to turn the straw into gold; the only difference is you can really produce the product without any outside help. If you need me to, however, I can give you plenty to cry about."

"I can think of a fairy tale too. A big, stupid oaf had a chicken that had to lay golden eggs for him, only it didn't belong to him. You know what happened? Good triumphed and the chicken was rescued, whereas the stupid oaf met a tragic and fatal end."

"Careful, Chloe. I'm not afraid to dispose of you. Your tears are nice, but I'm already a billionaire. So with that in mind, you'd better make yourself useful." He handed her a tiny bottle. "I expect it filled by morning or like the miller's daughter, you shall die," and with that warning, he left.


	10. Chapter 10

Kara flew in through the window of Lois' room after removing the bars.

"Wow, she can fly," Lois said to Clark.

"I know," Clark said.

"Can you do that? When you have your powers I mean?" Lois asked.

"Why does everyone keep asking me that? I'll fly when I fly."

"Clark told me you knew on the phone. Girls mature faster on Krypton," Kara explained with a grin.

"Don't they everywhere?" Lois replied.

"So did you keep an eye out for Chloe like I told you to on the way over here?" Clark asked.

Kara sobered, "Yes, and I didn't see her anywhere. Do have any idea where she might have been taken?"

"No," Clark said. "Have you checked the Luthor mansion?"

"A quick check and how in the world did you manage to lose your powers?" Kara asked. "I did hear you right on the phone, didn't I?"

"Yes," he said. "It's a long story. We can worry about that after you find Chloe."

"Yes, please go," Lois urged. "Look anywhere."

"But your powers—" she started to say to Clark.

"Can be gotten back later, go."

Kara nodded and then leapt back out of the window.

"It's not that I don't appreciate you putting my cousin first," Lois said, "but I'm guessing the guy that stole your powers didn't exactly do it to use them for good."

"No, he didn't, but Chloe is the priority."

"Yes, but it may be a good idea to keep an eye on the news to see what he's doing. So you have any other superpowered relatives or friends?"

"Actually I do, but I wouldn't put them up against someone with my powers. Kara's the best person for the job. I don't think it'll take her long to find Chloe, at least I hope it won't. In the meanwhile, I can be getting a meteor rock for the switchback. It would make Kara sick, but I'm immune to it right now. I'll be back as quick as I can," he said, reaching for the knob.

"You're just going to leave me here alone to anxiously wonder what's happening to Chloe?"

"If I remember right, you didn't want me here in the first place."

"Only because I had a job to do and you were more than likely going to mess that up. My being in here is rather pointless now. In fact, I could be out there looking for Chloe. Just because a person doesn't have superpowers doesn't mean they can't find someone," her eyes lit up. "Why don't you help me sneak out with you?"

"Because they'll search for you, and you'd have to go into hiding. Tell you what? You be a good girl and I'll call Perry while I'm away and tell him you want out."

"You sound like you find the fact that I'm stuck here a little amusing!"

"Keep your voice down. That's not being good, and you're the one that got yourself into the situation."

"I wasn't planning on it going off quite like this! How about you call Perry now, and how dare you tell me what to do! I can yell if I want to!"

"And you are. Relax, soak in the atmosphere for your piece. I think it's a good idea for you to stay around here, incase Chloe tries to get back here or something."

"Why? You—"

"What is going on—" said the middle-aged nurse from earlier. "You two, I should have known. I was suspicious of the both of you. You, Mr. Volunteer, were supposed to have left hours ago and you, Missy, are supposed to be sedated. Well, if the sedation won't work, we'll have to try something else. "

The nurse left briefly and came back with a couple of orderlies and a straitjacket.

Clark watched in fascination as they put it on her. They were also tying her to the bed, so she couldn't kick. Lois looked over at Clark and glared, as he was doing nothing to help her, but Lois was fairly cooperative since she assumed he would help her once they were gone.

"We may have to adjust your restraints depending on your power, but this should hold you for now," said the nurse. She turned to Clark, "I just found out from the receptionist that you're a concerned friend of this patient's, so I'm not going to press charges, but I better not see your face around here anymore. I'm going to give you 5 minutes and then I will call security."

With that warning, they left, leaving Clark and Lois alone again.

"It figures they'd come charging in when they hear a mild spat but completely ignore a kidnapping and a power-stealing, escaping patient," grumbled Lois. "Help me out of this straitjacket."

Clark smiled for the first time since Chloe had gone missing, and Lois figured that couldn't be good. "I'd like to, Lois, but like I said, I have things to do. You'll be fine now. They think the sedatives don't work on you, and Lex has no intention of kidnapping you."

"You're going to leave me like this? All I have to say is you better make sure your powers are back before they release me."

He laughed and then got serious. "Try not to worry about Chloe. I know Kara can and will find her." He swept a couple of strands of hair off her face and then kissed her forehead.

It had the magic of taking all the anger out of Lois. She just didn't understand how he could be so annoying one minute and sweet the next. She watched his retreating form in confusion.

sss

Chloe was watching the bottle and feeling ridiculous. She hadn't even covered the bottom and it had already been an hour. She felt dried up until she realized how hopeless the situation was and then she'd get a fresh batch of tears. She knew that if Clark had followed, he would have rescued her by now but surely Lex wouldn't kill her. Her tears were too valuable, and if he was waiting until he had a couple bottles first, her death might take the magic out. How could she take on wounds if she was dead? Then she shuddered as she realized every time a tear was used, she'd take it on, even death.

She was lost in these depressing, morbid thoughts when there was a loud crash and a couple inches away Kara landed. Chloe looked up at the hole in the roof and the grinning Kara, who had pieces of plaster clinging in her hair.

"You do realize," Chloe said, standing up, "that just a little closer and you could have seriously hurt me by landing on me."

"I could see you before I came through the roof," she said, wondering why she looked so displeased.

"Never mind. I'm still glad to see you. Now let's get out of here before someone decides to investigate the noise or hole."

"Are you joking? These people have to pay for what they did."

"That's what the police are for. Now let's go," Chloe urged.

"No. We're going to have a little confrontation with your captor first."

Kara went through the door this time and Chloe had no choice but to follow her. This could only lead to trouble.


	11. Chapter 11

Lex looked up, but he didn't look very surprised to see Kara or Chloe. It wasn't always evident on his face when he was surprised though. Lex Luthor was a master of deception.

"Can I help you ladies?" he asked casually.

Kara went over to the desk and lifted him up by his neck. "You can proceed to stay still, while I squeeze the life out of you," she said almost cheerfully.

Lex's eyes bugged and his breathing was labored, so that he couldn't talk.

Chloe knew Kara wasn't going to take his life though. She was just giving him a good scare. She hoped anyway.

At last, Kara dropped him. She bent down intimidatingly. "You're not even worth committing a crime over, you scumbag."

Lex rubbed his neck. "I have news for you. You're not only trespassing in my home, but you attacked me and these things are both crimes."

"But we know you're not going to prosecute," Chloe said. "Just because you perceive someone to be different from the average human being does not permit you to own them."

He adjusted his collar with an infuriating calmness. "I'm afraid I have no idea what you are talking about. Do you have any evidence to back up this so-called claim?"

The only thing they had was Chloe's word against Lex's. When it came to men as wealthy as Lex, if the police didn't catch him with a smoking gun, it wasn't enough. Sometimes the smoking gun wasn't enough. Both Kara and Chloe were aware of this.

Chloe spoke coolly to Lex, which didn't reflect the turmoil she felt inside, "One day, Lex. One day you're not going to be able to completely cover up your tracks, and I'll be there to catch it."

"You're starting to sound like you're cousin," Lex said, looking amused.

"Come on, Kara," Chloe said, leading the way.

Kara briefly hesitated. She clearly wanted to do more to Lex, but she followed.

"Oh my gosh," Chloe said, when they got into the air. They could see smoke rising in a number of places from their high viewpoint. Somebody was giving the town of Smallville trouble, which wasn't all that unusual.

sss

Lois thought many evil thoughts as she was in the straitjacket, tied to the bed. Most of them had to do with what she was going to do to Clark when she got out of this position he'd left her in. She could just imagine all the action she was missing. She wasn't going to stay like this. She knew that much. She'd find a way to get out of her restraints. She'd always managed it before. So when her mind wasn't occupied with ways to kill Clark, they were occupied with a plan of escape.

At last, she thought of something. That dingbat blonde nurse was still around here somewhere. The only thing available to her right now was her voice, although she was sure the yells of patients were often ignored by the staff, but she had no other choice. "Help! Help!"

She paused to see if she heard footsteps, but she didn't.

"I need a nurse! Quick!" She said a silent prayer as she said these words, hoping it wouldn't bring the evil nurse, but she doubted that woman was the type to respond to the calls of her distressed patients, even if she knew there was something legitimately wrong. "Help!" she threw in for good measure.

The door creaked opened cautiously and slowly. The platinum blonde nurse had come. Lois could barely restrain a smile. "What's the matter?" the nurse asked.

"These ropes are too tight. Can you loosen them for me?"

"No," she shook her head adamantly.

"I'm not asking you to free me. My circulation is getting cut off. Just loosen the ropes a little."

She gave it a couple of seconds of thought and then the nurse did it.

As soon as she left, Lois began to struggle. After a few minutes, she succeeded in. getting the ropes off, but of course, she was still in her straitjacket, and there was no way of removing that.

She walked to the door and peered out at the hallway. Chloe's room was only a couple of doors down. She waited until the coast was clear and ran for that room. She let out a sigh of relief that she'd made it. She went over to the window, where Lex's henchman had removed the bars. This task was going to be extremely difficult without the use of her hands, but she was determined to do it. Some people were born without arms and got along just fine. It wasn't the first floor, but she figured it was enough so that she could land safely. Just to be on the safe side though, she threw Chloe's pillows out with her mouth as an extra precaution. She fell properly onto the pillows, one of the useful tasks her father had taught her. She began to run for the exit at top speed, hoping no one would see her.

She made it off the property, but she knew she wasn't out of the woods yet, walking around in a straitjacket made her stick out like a sore thumb. Every time a car passed, she hunched down. She was on her way to the Kent farm. She felt like she'd never get there, but she did.

Her eyes squinted in a kill-Clark mode when she saw the lights in the loft on. She used her foot to open the barn door and went in shouting, "Thought you got rid of me, didn't—" she didn't complete her sentence when she that the light brown hair did not belong to Clark.

He turned around in a smirk. For a second, she thought it was Jimmy, but there was something different about him. "Now why would I want to get rid of you?" he asked. "I have a feeling you'll make a great bargaining chip."


	12. Chapter 12

"Stop struggling. I've got more power in my little pinky than you have in your whole body," Eric told her his arms wrapped around her in a crushing grip.

"But it's not your power, is it?" she said, deciding it would be unwise to continue a physical match.

"No, but with the help of a little electricity and a meteor rock, it's mine now."

"So you're not even a real meteor freak then," she taunted. "You have to have electricity and a meteor rock in hand to act as a leach. That's pathetic and you're pathetic for wanting to steal other people's powers like some disgusting leach."

"Careful. Even when people have a use to me, I still kill them. I'm not balanced you know or so they tell me at Bell Reve." His smile became wider. "Looks like we have some company."

Clark came up the loft stairs with a meteor rock in hand, and Lois could feel the grip Eric had on her weaken from its presence but not enough for her to break away. A number of looks passed across Clark's face when he saw Lois: surprise, annoyance, fear.

"Put the rock down," Eric ordered. "Or your girlfriend here gets it."

The angry heat radiating from Clark's eyes would have been enough to fry the man if he still had his heat vision, but he wasn't going to risk Lois' life, a fact that Eric had counted on. He put the meteor rock down onto the floor.

"Good boy," Eric said. "Now back away from it."

Clark had no choice again but to obey, and when he was far enough away, Eric swooped in and grabbed him too.

"I heard tell that you have a cousin, Clark." He smiled at the look of panic that Clark tried to disguise. "This superhearing really comes in handy. Just think how much power I would have if I took hers too, and you know what they say, 'double the power, double the fun.' Even if one of you worthless aliens managed to get your part of the powers back for a time, I would have back-up until I took it away again."

Eric had found some rope, not that hard a commodity to find in farm country, and used it to tie them up. Lois didn't need help with having her arms pinned down, but Clark needed a little more rope to pin his arms down. They both had long attachments of rope that Eric held like leashes. He pushed them over to the window.

"Now it's time to put you two on hooks like a couple of lovely earthworms to reel in the fish. I know how much you love your bug analogies, Lois, so I know you appreciate it."

Clark and Lois were lowered out the window, and Eric tied the ends of the rope to something up in the loft.

"This is a fine mess you've gotten us into," Lois grumbled as they dangled.

"Me?" Clark said, looking over at her like she really had lost her mind. "You were the one who left the hospital after I specifically told you not to. I may have gotten my powers back if you hadn't gotten yourself caught."

"Well, I might not have gotten myself caught if it weren't for this straitjacket that you wouldn't let me out of."

Before he could retort, they saw Kara appear on the horizon and grow steadily larger as she zoomed across the sky. She didn't even pause as she broke the ropes and flew them in through the window.

"That was quick," Eric commented before punching Kara in the gut.

A battle ensued between them. For a while, it looked as if Kara would get the best of him, but Eric began to gain the upper hand. Clark had rescued the meteor rock to keep it away from Eric, whose plan it was to weaken Kara, so that he could use the rock and electricity on her. If he tried it before that, he would make himself too weak to accomplish it, as she could zap or blow him against the wall with her breath from a distance.

When Kara dropped to the floor bruised and with a trickle of blood coming from her nose, Clark rushed in to rescue his cousin, but Eric dropped him even as he fell to his own knees in pain.

Eric backed away until he was in a safety zone and began the process of getting up, but Lois, not to be left out of the fight, landed a hard kick in the center of his back. With his invulnerable skin, it was likely that it simply felt like a pesky fly landing on him, but it was enough to tick him off. He turned to retaliate, and it gave Clark the opportunity to run in with the meteor rock and the exposed wire he had created from the lamp cord, giving him his powers back and rendering Eric unconscious.

Kara got up and went over to help Lois out of her straitjacket now that the fight was over.

"Not so fast, Kara," Clark said with a glint of humor in his eyes. Both women froze and turned their attention to him. "I think it's safer for everybody if we leave her in it."

"Something tells me it's safer for you if we let her out of it now," Kara said with a grin as she went over to free Lois.

sss

Clark, Lois, and Chloe sat in the newsroom discussing the incident.

"It's about time Bell Reve came under new administration, and it's thanks to your exposé idea," Chloe congratulated her cousin. "If only we could have brought Lex down too. At least, he won't be able to get his hands on anymore people with meter powers. Thankfully, those days are over now."

"Maybe they can finally start to get the help they really need. I know Eric Summers was never exactly stable, but I can't help think they only made his problem worse under the old administration," Clark said. "And it's all thanks to you that they can get that help now, Lois."

"I couldn't have done any of it without your help, you guys," Lois said. "I might have spent the week in a drug-induced fog with no recollection of anything. It's nice to know too that my friends won't let me drop off the face of the Earth or into an institution, in this case, without a fight. I should have let you both in on it from the beginning. I believe Perry is of that opinion too after the ruckus you raised with him."

Chloe blushed slightly. "It was nice of him to give me back my job, but you can demure all you want to, Cuz, you can't keep us from admiring you. It was a gutsy thing to do. You're a regular modern-day Nellie Bly."

"I don't know that I'd go that far," Lois said.

"I would," Chloe said, "and this is brilliant writing. 'While I understand that the Belle Reve staff must take precautions against people with meteor powers, leaving patients in a constant stupor doesn't do anything to solve their problems. Modern psychiatry calls for more humane treatment.' Just brilliant. I don't know how you were able to fool professionals that you had a power and that you were insane. That is impressive."

Clark's eyes twinkled as he said, "I don't know how impressive the insanity part was. I've always thought Lois Lane walks a fine line between sanity and insanity."

Clark proved that he clearly had all of his faculties intact when he super speeded from the room before she could react.

The End


End file.
